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I thought I  would have a little fun this month with some Yogi Berra quotes.  Sometimes inspiration can come from unlikely sources!

Our jobs can be fun when we have that “aha” moment that takes your web or social content to the next level.  It’s nice to take a moment to enjoy our work and have some fun.  To paraphrase Yogi “Love is the most important thing in the world, but SEO and SEM (baseball) is pretty good, too.”

I love what I do, and hope that you do as well.  So, strap in for some inspiration from Yogi Berra courtesy of his quote list at https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/yogi_berra

“If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.” 

This thought is key to SEO (or digital marketing for that matter) success.  I would add that you need to know both where you are, and where you want to go.  If you do not take the time to understand where you are you cannot plan a route to your destination.  I always begin any SEO engagement with a technical and search analytics analysis of how well a site is performing.  This lets us know where you are and address any technical issues on your site.  We look at who is visiting your site, and how or why they clicked to visit. 

Then, we develop your prospect personas and create a plan to attract them to your site.  At this point, you and I will discuss what success looks like.  This allows us to measure your progress toward your goal.  It also provides the data needed to make adjustments that help you reach your goals. Our mutual goal is to make sure that your SEO and SEM strategy does not make you “wind up someplace else”.

You can observe a lot by watching.”

Who knew, Yogi was an analytics geek!  Successful digital marketing campaigns need accurate and objective measurement.  You must “keep your eye on the ball” by knowing how your website and social media properties are doing.  Start with simple things like how many visits, views, and shares.  Move on to referral sources, search phrases, topics and tags followed.  Find out what your competitors are doing, and what is and is not working for them so that you can compete with them.  Therefore, we have a screen share meeting at least monthly, and often weekly or bi-weekly.  During these meetings, we share data on how your strategy is working and what we should be doing next.  If you would like to see a sample of what kinds of data we share contact us and we will be happy to set up a GoToMeeting with you to show you.

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

To meet the marketing and sales goals you have set for your digital properties you will need to adapt to change.  In the world of SEO, SEM, and social media marketing you will encounter forks in the road every week.  Some of the changes are driven by updates to search algorithms by search engines.  Some of them are the result of updated or changed strategies from your competitors.  You may find that a new or existing organization has started a PPC campaign targeting some of your best keywords.  There are many possibilities.

To continue to compete online, you must have visibility to see those forks in the road.  If you do not recognize that you have taken the wrong path or need to adjust your route you will miss out on opportunities.  The longer you are unaware that the route has changed, the longer, and costlier it will be to get back to a path to success.

“You wouldn’t have won if we’d beaten you.”

Yogi understood that in every game there are winners and losers.  Our job is to make winning as difficult as possible for your competitors.  If you are going to have a winning digital marketing strategy, you must show up to the game, and have a game plan that works.  As in baseball, it will take preparation and practice.  You will < insert shameless plug here /> have to have the right players on your team.

I like to tell the story about two guys on safari in Africa.  One day out in the bush they were chased by a lion.  As they were running the one fellow asked the other if he could borrow his shoes.  The second fellow responded that his shoes would not allow his companion to outrun the lion.  Of course, the point of borrowing the shoes was not to outrun the lion but to outrun his companion.  Digital marketing has the same goal.  You may not be able to be the first result on every search or ad placement, but you can outrun your competition.  A sound digital marketing strategy will enable you to outrun your competition.   

“There are some people who, if they don’t already know, you can’t tell ’em.”

I like to think that Yogi saw that some people were just not open to change.  If you are going to be successful in digital marketing, you are going to need to be open to change.  You should expect that your SEO/SEM consultant is going to present new ideas that will require changes in your strategy.  If they do not, then why are you paying them? 

At the same time, you will need to be able to evaluate and adapt to change.  Your SEO partner should be able to provide a data-driven case for the changes they suggest.  If the data they show make a compelling case for change, then you are missing an opportunity if you are not willing to change your strategy.  You cannot expect success if you are not willing to adapt. 

However, change for the sake of change is not effective.  Nor should you be shamed or talked down to when discussing your digital marketing strategy.  Your SEO and SEM partner need to clearly explain what you should do and the expected results.  They should be able to provide objective measures of what success looks like.  If they are not able to present you with a clear case for making a change, they are unlikely to help you clearly tell your story in a digital world.

“Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.”

I always chuckled when I have come across this quote.  However, I see it’s analog now.  It is common to focus on simple stats such as daily visitors or growth in likes or followers.  That is all well and good, but are they the right visitors and followers? 

Well-crafted and executed digital marketing strategies focus on your goals.  It is probably not your goal to have a popular site or a lot of likes.  I’ll bet that your goal is more along the line of increasing sales and profits or impacting your community or industry.  If that is indeed the case, then forget about the raw numbers and look at who is coming, and their conversion rate.  Are your visitors becoming prospects, and your prospects becoming customers?  If they are not doing so in sufficient numbers, then you will need to adjust your strategy with that in mind.  Effective digital marketing consultants will look at the who and why of your visitor personas.  Then they help you align them with your ideal prospect personas.  When you have the right people visiting your properties for the right reasons, your marketing costs will go down and your conversion rate will go up.

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